Weekend to Remember
by BeWitchingRedhead36
Summary: Mac and Veronica head off for a weekend bachelorette party at Lake Tahoe to celebrate Parker's upcoming wedding, leaving their guys (Dick and Logan) to fend for themselves. Rated M for a bit of sexy goodbye fun at the beginning, naughty texts (sexts) throughout, and the usual bachelorette party/girls' weekend hi-jinx, and obligatory swearing. Friendship, humor, & angst. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: This is not really related to my "Road" series of stories, but it could be viewed as a future view of sorts. Dick and Mac have graduated from Hearst, they are in an established relationship as are LoVe, and Piz and Parker, of course. This is about 3 months after graduation, when they are out in the Real World (sort of). More of friendship bonding, with some relationship matters, too. No need to read my other Road stories to understand this, but if you haven't read them, do so anyway for fun! (My obligatory plug)! Not knowing much about Parker's family there will be a few OC's including an older sister.  
_**

**_I started writing this story this Fall after I went to a bachelorette weekend at a lake house for my baby cousin, who got married in November. Anyway, in true fanfic writer fashion all I kept thinking that whole (Wi-Fi-less) weekend was what a GREAT Veronica Mars fanfic story it would make, with some changes to protect the "guilty" of course! I shared the idea with some other members of the VM fandom (lateVMlover, Turquoise Dragonfly, cainc3) and with their support & promises to read said story, here ya go, the first chapter is FINALLY ready. Turquoise Dragonfly beta'ed the first part of the story, and proclaimed it post-ready. Thank you for your encouragement for me to continue this idea (she calls it my Hen Do weekend story, evidently that's what they call Bachelorette weekends in the UK). Anyway, her encouragement can also be read as nagging! *grins. But a BIG shout-out to Turquoise, lateVMlover & cainc3. And a HUGE thank you to everyone for reading this. Double appreciation if you also review it. Enjoy! _**

**_Obligatory disclaimer: I don't actually own the VM 'verse, it's all part of Rob Thomas' world! Thanks for letting me play here, though..._**

**_A Weekend to Remember_**

**Chapter 1—Lost**

**_Labor Day weekend, 2010_**

Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie placed her neatly folded tee-shirt that read: **_AlieNation _**in her new black suitcase and then triumphantly zipped it up. She left the case on the far end of their big King sized bed.

"Finished! Finally," she exclaimed. With a flourish, she dramatically placed her left hand on her forehead as she flopped down next to Dick Casablancas who had been stretched out on the bed watching her mad dash to get everything ready for tomorrow's festivities.

It was Parker Lee, soon to be Parker Piznarsky's, bachelorette party weekend. Twelve women, a huge lake house, a long Labor Day weekend—the perfect send off for Parker's single days. Veronica was picking her up at 9 AM the next day to take them to the airport. They were flying into Sacramento, and then driving the two hours or so to Lake Tahoe.

"So, you're telling me there aren't any lakes a bit more local?" Dick asked for what seemed to Mac as the millionth time.

"We've been over this," Mac said sighing. "Lake Tahoe is more central to Denver and Portland, where several of the other girls are coming from. It's supposed to be a huge, sprawling house with lake access, a huge dock, and a hot tub. You know, I'm probably never going to want to come back to our apartment."

Both Dick and Mac had graduated from Hearst College three months earlier and they were still living in the two bedroom apartment they'd shared since junior year when Logan and Dick had finally decided to branch off from the Penthouse suite of the Neptune Grand.

Despite their rocky start back at Neptune High where they could barely stand to be in the same room together, Mac and Dick had started dating their sophomore year at Hearst. Veronica had been shocked at first, but soon saw how well her best friend and Logan's best friend meshed together. The logical half of Mac's brain had been surprised, too, she would have assumed it would be like mixing an acid and a base together (neutralization), but in reality what resulted was pure chemistry. The old cliché about opposites attracting certainly had some merit, and even deeper than that they shared a Cassidy-sized bond, both of them having loved Dick's messed up baby brother who would never get to grow up.

"That's a risk I guess I'll have to take," Dick teased, grinning to show he didn't mean it. "Maybe I'll have to give you a reason compelling enough to come home. Hmmm," he pretended to be deep in thought, and then his joking grin morphed into a more lascivious look as he leaned in to kiss Mac. Her lips parted as she permitted him entry.

Dick pulled her on top of him and proceeded to help her shed her clothes. Carelessly, as each article was removed, he tossed them across the room. They landed haphazardly on the floor, joining the mix of shirts, shorts and jeans that hadn't ended up making the cut. Soon Mac was left in nothing but her red silk and lace female boxer panties—a recent purchase from one of Dick's Victoria Secret shopping sprees.

He caressed a nipple and felt himself harden even more at the moan it elicited. Mac arched back slightly as Dick skillfully worked her breasts. Taking her hands she put one in his head playing with the silky, slightly shaggy blonde hair she loved so much, while her other hand went more southerly until she found his balls, giving them a gentle massage. Dick emitted his own groan as one of her fingers slipped down to that sensitive area underneath.

"Alright," Mac confessed in a breathy tone, "you're starting to convince me. But I think I need just a little more information to fully come to a conclusion." She laughed as Dick once again rolled her over, so this time she was on the bottom. He yanked her panties down to her ankles, clearing himself a path.

"So, just to make sure we're on the same page, when you said 'fully coming,' you just meant you want a conclusion, right?" Dick asked.

"Yeah, by coming I meant an orgasm," she clarified, kicking the underwear that was now around her ankles up in the air, not caring where it landed among the hurricane of clothes.

"I don't know, I was thinking maybe it would be better if I left you wanting more. You know, incentivize you to come back home Monday."

"Incentivize, huh? How positively Business Majory of you. How about you do less talking with your tongue, and a little more pleasure making," Mac ordered. She guided Dick's head down so his magic tongue could enter.

As Dick followed her command, a shiver snaked its way up Mac's spine and she dug her hands deeper into his hair, plunging his tongue further into her vagina. As Dick did some exploring of his own, she let another groan escape, her toes curling as she felt the waves breaking.

As his tongue varied its pressure from teasing little flicks to lingering strokes against Mac's clit, Dick's eyes tracked their way up so he could watch the expressions parading across her face. This was his favorite part—well, one of them—he loved watching Mac when she was in this state, a state he was creating, when she was wild and free, caught up in the moment of pleasure, fully immersed. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and she was his. Sometimes he still couldn't believe she'd chose him, too. He watched as she bit her bottom lip and continued to weave her fingers in his hair. Her fingers stiffened, she licked her lips, Dick recognized the signs that an orgasm was building and about to start its release, so he pulled away at the last second.

Mac removed her hands from his hair, but not before giving a generous chunk of it a not-so-gentle tug. "Asshole," she murmured, still breathless from her almost-crescendo.

"Incentivize, remember?" Dick reminded her. "No, seriously, I want to be inside you so bad right now. I need to feel it, feel _you_."

Not arguing with that logic, Mac quit her grumping and spread her legs wider so he could enter her. She tensed for a brief moment and then relaxed as he plunged deeper, connecting again with her clit. The hot, inky blackness of an orgasm clung, swelling and then bursting over her. Dick closed his eyes, enveloped in the feelings raining upon him as he felt Mac clench up in climax. She screamed, but it was more of a low, animalistic, guttural sound. Her short, business woman nails raked trails down his back.

He kept up the frenetic paced plunges wanting to merge them into just one person. She continued to quake beneath him, little aftershocks coming on top of each other forcing him towards his own culmination. Mac bit him on his right nipple and he groaned right as his own orgasm dragged him under.

****/****

Mac woke up to the sun streaming through a crack in the blinds, and the buzzing of her alarm intruding on the deep, dreamless sleep she'd been in since her aerobic activities of the night before. Cracking one bleary eye open she saw it was just after 7 AM. She'd been just about to unceremoniously punch the _off_ button, erroneously thinking it was a Saturday when she remembered that Veronica would be there in less than 2 hours to pick her up for their Bachelorette Party weekend.

Being Parker's maid of honor, this was one invitation Mac couldn't refuse. Veronica, on the other hand, needed a bit of convincing—blackmail, actually, if Mac was honest. She didn't care that her methods were a bit gray; it was worth it for the much-needed re-enforcements. Three whole days filled with "super-fun" bridesmaids dress games, pin the dick on the male model, a penis cake, chick flicks and who knows what other instruments of torture the matron of honor—Parker's newlywed sister, Paige—dreamed up for their weekend of frivolity. Not really being a purveyor of girly type activities, Mac felt like her role in the bridal party was largely that of a figure head, since Paige had taken over the reins in most of the planning, but Parker had assured her the most important role in her eyes was just to be there. Mac couldn't argue with that logic.

Looking over at Dick's side of the bed, she saw it was empty. He'd always been an early riser, exception being, of course, those party-filled weekends. Now that they'd graduated though, there were a lot less of those all-night social engagements. Bit by bit, they were being replaced by early morning business meetings and other adult responsibilities.

Mac assumed he'd probably sneaked out to get breakfast. Dick wasn't much of a cook himself—years of growing up with a full house staff to cater to your every whim didn't make you proficient in the areas of cooking or cleaning—but he excelled in the art of take-out.

Mac yawned. Her stomach growled, giving her the added incentive of leaving her warm nest of blankets. She stretched and slowly made her way out of bed. She noticed her packed suitcase had become collateral damage somewhere in the course of their marathon lovemaking session; it had evidently fallen off the bed at some point as it was now lying on its side on the floor. She bent over and put it right side up again.

Mac made her way through their apartment; there was no sign of Dick. In the kitchen she found a full pot of coffee and a note.

It read;

**_Hey baby, have a cup of coffee. I just ran out to get breakfast, I'll be right back. Gotta send you out on a full stomach. See, that's just one more way to incentivize you to come back to me…I have other ideas in mind, too. _**

**_Love, your own personal Dick_**

She groaned internally at the last bit. He had just come up with that signature a few months ago and thought it was terribly cleaver. It didn't really matter though, she supposed, it was for her eyes only anyway.

Grabbing a cup from the narrow cabinet by the stove, she proceeded to pour a cup of coffee. She grabbed the carton of soy milk Dick had left out on the counter for her convenience. She poured a few generous splashes of the milk, and then put it back in the fridge.

Mac took her drink out to the dining room and settled into one of the high backed chairs of their new, overpriced, dining set. She and Dick had been on a furniture shopping kick, it was part of their quest to "become grownups," it was proving to be a painstaking process. And by _their_, Mac really meant _her_ quest, because Dick lived by the motto that immaturity could last a lifetime.

She took a sip of the strong coffee, and waited for the caffeine to percolate its way through her bloodstream, waking her up. It was going to be a long day…She mentally ticked her way through all the plans Paige had emailed her for the "super fun" weekend.

The theme was _Days of Wine and Roses_, like the old movie (1962) of the same name. The wine part Mac could support, she just hoped the lake house (mansion) wouldn't smell like a bordello with all those flowers perfuming the air. Far as Mac could tell, girly-ness was a dominant gene in the Lee family. Of course, the movie was less romantic than the title implied-being about alcoholism-so Mac figured Paige just chose it for the vibe the title set for the whole weekend. However, Parker was quite the fan of those old movies, plus wine and flowers were so bridal-esque, so the theme was _quite_ fitting. In a lot of ways, she'd always quite reminded Mac of a film star of the 30s and 40s, where it was in fashion to be classy, elegant, understated, not famous (infamous) for flashing their _ta-tas_ to anyone who would look.

The door banged open, interrupting Mac's ruminations. Dick walked in laden down by take home bags from their favorite breakfast spot, The Neptune Café. He kicked the door shut behind him.

Placing the containers on the table in front of Mac, he leaned down and kissed her on the lips.

"Breakfast is served, m'lady."

"Yay! I'm starving. So, what did you bring me?" Mac asked, after returning the kiss with interest.

"Your usual, of course. Would I dare get you anything but Oatmeal vegan pancakes with two smoked veggie strips?"

"Probably not," Mac admitted. "You're pretty well trained, by now." She grinned slyly as she said the last bit. Then she automatically corrected, "Veggie bacon, I think you mean." She opened the carton, and picked up a strip of bacon. She took a big bite and after swallowing gave an exaggerated sigh of contentment, rubbing her belly.

"No. I didn't mean that, I meant what I said, smoked veggie strips. There's no such thing as Veggie bacon. It's made up, like the Easter Bunny, a nice piece of fiction! It redefines the term oxymoron. Bacon is meat,_ only_ meat! Guess I'm not that well-trained after all, because I will never recognize your veggie strips as bacon." He smirked as he launched into the same basic spiel he gave every time they ate at The Neptune Café.

."You're a work-in-progress," Mac retorted. "I like a challenge, what can I say."

"Speaking of challenges, how about I propose a little challenge for you?"

"No."

"You didn't hear my idea," Dick complained.

"I don't need to. The answer is no."

"I thought you liked a challenge."

"Apparently not as much as I thought," Mac retracted.

"Two words; Cherry Jell-O," Dick proposed. He had a dreamy expression on his face thinking way too impure thoughts about Mackie for that early in the morning.

"That was four words, actually," Mac corrected.

"The set up didn't count. The only words that counted were Cherry and Jell-O, respectively."

"I know I'm going to regret asking, but what challenge are you proposing that involves Cherry Jell-O?"

"Cherry Jell-O wrestling, of course. You can take a giant vat of it; one of those plastic kiddie pools will work quite well for the purpose, and take turns wrestling each other. The winner takes on Parker. You and Ronnie, I think, would be a fair match-up. Give me your phone, I'll call Parker and make sure it's added to the list of activities. It'll be a good way to get to know everyone in the bridal party. What better way to bond with each other than a nice match up of Jell-O wrestling?"

"Why cherry?"

"Well, Lime works well, too, personal preference really."

"Could we use Orange Jell-O?" Mac asked.

"Personally, I think Cherry or Lime work best, but maybe it's just because I like the taste better. Like I said, it's really just a matter of preference, any flavor would work I guess." Dick opened the take-out container with his sausage and green pepper omelet inside; grabbing his fork he cut off a piece from the end closest to him and popped it in his mouth.

"There's only one thing you failed to take into account," Mac smirked.

He finished chewing then said "how to clean Jell-O out of your crevices? Phff! That's easy; you can soap each other up in the shower afterward. The Jell-O will wash down the drain with no problem, its water solvable, just use hot water, it'll melt right off."

"Nope. I was referring to my dietary needs. Jell-O isn't vegan. Darn!" Mac sarcastically snapped her fingers. "Guess I'll just have to sit that activity out."

"I'm sure there's a vegan brand of gelatin on the market. You could stop in a health food store on your way to the lake house."

"Right, I'm sure Veronica would be thrilled with the whole plan."

"The pixie spy is a scrappy one, I think she more than anyone else would appreciate the chance to take down the rest of you."

"I thought you said we'd be a pretty even match up," Mac reminded him.

"She'd win in the end, but you'd put up a hell of a fight." Dick said inching away from Mac as he said it. He wasn't fast enough though, a hard punch landed on his upper arm. He thought there would probably be a bruise there in the morning. "Alright," he amended rubbing his arm, "you're pretty scrappy, too. I guess it could possibly end up in a dead heat."

"You're the only one here risking death," Mac grumbled under her breath. Then said in a louder voice, "I'm sure Parker will appreciate your suggestion, but I think vegan gelatin would be too costly."

"Olive oil, then," Dick proposed before putting another bite of omelet in his mouth.

"I think we'll skip wrestling all together."

Dick tapped his right index finger on his chin as though in deep thought. "Pillow fights," he exclaimed as soon as he'd finished chewing. "Not using down pillows, though, of course, because that wouldn't be conducive to the vegan lifestyle, either."

"Let me guess, while we're in our skimpy black baby doll nighties," Mac snarked. "So, that's it, your activity suggestions are Jell-O wrestling, and lingerie-clad pillow fights?"

"Olive oil wrestling, since you pointed out Jell-O isn't vegan," Dick corrected. "It would ruin my fantasies if you were unable to participate."

"Yes, well, I'd hate for that to happen. So, while Veronica and I are getting oiled up, what will you and Logan do to keep yourselves out of trouble?" Mac asked, she rolled her eyes at Dick's leer when she said _oiled up_.

"I'm not sure. We'll probably drink a lot of beer, play video games, and hire a couple of escorts to boss us around, tell us to clean up after ourselves, since you and Ronnie won't be there to do it for free."

"Sounds wholesome," Mac quipped. She poured the packet of maple syrup on her pancakes and took a big bite.

"I'm sure it's remarkably similar to your own weekend plans, minus the big house, and oil wrestling."

"I bet you could engage Logan in a friendly match of Cherry Jell-O wrestling," she said between bites of pancake.

"I don't think there's enough alcohol in the world to get me to agree to Jell-O wrestle Logan."

"But it's okay for us girls to do it?" Mac inquired.

"Yes! Now you're learning."

Mac felt like they'd fully exhausted the subject of Cherry Jell-O wrestling, she really wasn't sure what else needed to be said on the subject. They finished their breakfast in relative silence, occasionally Dick would make a suggestion here or there about appropriate activities for a big group of girls celebrating the end of Parker's single days.

Glancing up at the wall clock in the tiny galley kitchen Mac saw that 9 AM was fast approaching. She took a mental inventory of the contents of her suitcase hoping she didn't forget anything.

True to form, Veronica was her usual punctual self. The peal of the doorbell echoed through the apartment.

Mac went to the door to let her best friend in while Dick went back to their bedroom to retrieve her heavy luggage.

"What the hell do you have in here, bricks?" Dick grumped as he hauled Mac's suitcase into the living room. He exaggeratedly limped as he carried it, as though he was weighted down by its bulk.

"Funny," Mac replied dryly. "It's not that much, just a few necessities."

"Define necessities." He complained as he deposited it by the door.

"Clothes, make up, Parker's shower gift, my Kindle, a few other assorted odds and ends. The suitcase actually has wheels, so you could've just rolled it." Mac explained, smiling at Dick's _now you tell me_ expression. She opened the door. "Hey Vee, come in. I just have to get my laptop and then we can depart."

"Hi, Mac, hey Dick," Veronica greeted her friends and she walked into in living room of Mac's apartment. She shut the door behind her. "You're bringing your laptop? Do you think there will be Wi-Fi?"

"Of course, what the hell kind of place doesn't have Wi-Fi?" Mac was indignant.

"Uh, the rustic kind?"

"Rustic?" Mac asked as if she'd never heard that term before. "Plus, it doesn't really matter if it's rustic or not, I have a wireless card now. No more need to borrow yours. Aren't you bringing your laptop?"

"I thought I'd unplug a bit this weekend. But if I really feel disconnected I have my phone."

"A cell phone, really rustic there, Vee," Mac said over her shoulder. She went back to her bedroom to grab the laptop bag she'd set by the door earlier.

Veronica made a move to grab Mac's suitcase but Dick waved her off. "Don't break your back there, Mars. I got this. What time is your flight?"

"11:30, out of John Wayne Airport, in Orange County," Veronica said. "So, as soon as your better half grabs her lifeline there, we'll have to skedaddle."

"Got it, let's hit the road," Mac said coming back out to the living room. She once again made a move to grab her suitcase and once again Dick rebuffed the offer. With the hand not carrying the bag, Dick opened the front door and motioned both ladies out. They made their way down the flights of stairs and out to the parking lot. Veronica unlocked her Silver Saturn Vue SUV, the same one she'd had since freshman year at Hearst, then got into the driver's seat. Dick threw Mac's bags into the trunk and kissed her. It was more passionate than Ronnie evidently thought was warranted based on the fact that she honked the horn when she glanced over and saw the two of them hugging and kissing.

"Love you, Mackers. Don't forget about me in the course of all the fun and frivolity you're sure to have," Dick said after he reluctantly pulled away from their kiss. "Be safe, and text me to let me know you arrived safely."

"Will do. Love you, too, babe. Don't let your partner in crime get you arrested or anything while I'm away," she rejoined.

"I'll just use my _get out of jail free card_," he teased.

"Life is not a _Monopoly_ board," she reminded him.

"I think you're mixing genres there, Mackers. _Life_ and _Monopoly_ are two separate games."

"Ha, ha, ha. You know what I meant."

Their joking banter was interrupted again though by another honk of Veronica's horn. She was pointing to her wrist just in case Mac couldn't figure out the source of her impatience. After another quick embrace, she reluctantly pulled away. Dick opened the door and she climbed into the passenger seat.

"Who pissed in your _Wheaties_?" Mac snarked to her friend, as she buckled up her seatbelt.

"I just don't want to be late," Veronica explained as she looked in the rearview mirror and started backing out of the parking space.

"We have plenty of time," she reassured. After waving and blowing a kiss at Dick who stood off to the side watching them depart, she risked a side glance at Vee. Mac couldn't help thinking she looked stressed, her jaw was clenched and she seemed to be white-knuckle gripping the wheel. Hesitantly, she finally asked, "is everything alright?"

"Yes," she said immediately, then softly she said,"no, I don't know. There's plenty of time to talk this weekend, I just…Yeah, I'm okay." They made the turn off to the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway).

"Well, okay," Mac relented. "If you do want to talk later though, I'm here."

"Thanks."

"T'is okay, pal."

Wisely deciding to change the subject Mac started listing all the _super-fun_ activities Paige had planned. It wasn't long before Veronica was proposing her own girls' weekend suggestions, her bad mood seemingly forgotten. Of course Mac knew her best-friend excelled in the art of compartmentalizing things so while she didn't fully trust the change in mood, she'd follow Vee's lead. A couple of times Veronica's cell rang from the depths of her purse. The first time it did that Mac inquired if she wanted her to dig it out and answer it. That suggestion was met with a scowl, so the next time it rang Mac pretended not to hear it. Veronica did the exact same thing.

Over an hour later they pulled into the long term parking lot of the John Wayne Regional Airport.

Mac grabbed her bag from the trunk and hefted it down, then paused to watch Veronica unzip part of her suitcase leaving just enough real estate to drop the cell phone she'd just retrieved from her purse into the bowels of the suitcase. The girls then trekked over to the waiting shuttle bus, piling into the back. After being dropped off at their airline terminal, they got their tickets, Veronica checked her bag and they made their way through the X-rays and security check points. Once released, they made their way to the terminal and gate to wait.

The flight itself was short, a little over an hour runway to runway.

It seemed to Mac that they'd barely taken off before the captain was back on the announcements saying they were preparing to land in Sacramento. It was a smooth flight overall, just a few pockets of turbulence here and there. She was happy about that, being a somewhat nervous flier. There had never really been money to fly in the Mackenzie household, their big vacation splurges centered on camping and the trailer they owned. She had only really flown places after she and Dick started dating.

Veronica was a nervous flier, as well, so it didn't help Mac's cause any to glance over and see Vee looking around frantically at each little change in sound the engine made. She gripped the arm rest tightly when the wheels came down to prepare for descent.

Both girls let out sighs of relief as the wheels of the commuter jet touched down smoothly on the runway.

After filing off the plane they made their way down to the baggage claim area. The car rental desk was located on that level as well. Mac was glad she'd been able to find room to stow her roller suitcase in the overheard bin, she'd heard too many horror stories of lost or destroyed luggage to risk it.

"Um, Vee, what color is your bag?" Mac asked looking up from her phone's screen. She'd just sent a text to Dick, letting him know she'd survived the flight. They had been at the luggage carousel for the past 10 minutes watching the same collection of bags go around and around over and over again. There was still no sign of Vee's bag. After hearing the ping of an incoming message, she read his reply with a big grin on her face. Then she slipped her phone into the front pocket of her laptop bag.

"Purple and green striped. It's a Samsonite, you know the hard shelled bags."

"That should be easy to spot, I think."

"That was the plan," Veronica said sighing in resignation. "I think my bag just became a statistic. Let's go make a claim and then maybe by Sunday I'll have my stuff back."

They made their way to the airline's lost baggage desk and filled out the requisite forms. Veronica dug a crumpled piece of paper out of the pocket of her jeans; it had directions and the address of the lake house on it. The harried guy working the desk seemed confident that she'd have her bag back by the evening, the next day at the very latest. He gave her a piece of paper with tracking information as well. She was glad Mac had insisted on bringing the laptop after all. Her day had started out on a bad note, Logan had been in a pissy mood, evidently it had been contagious. Now, with her luggage in airport purgatory, well so far things were not on track to get any better.

After they dealt with the lost bag claim, Veronica and Mac made their way to the rental agency desk.

Mac handled the car rental arrangements and put it on her credit card. They charged an outrageous fee to people under the age of twenty-five. She also consented to the extra fee to add Veronica as an additional driver on the agreement. Suddenly the cost of the economy car was more on par with one of the luxury fleet. But still, it was better than driving Veronica's SUV or her bug from Neptune—they'd have more time for _super-fun_ bridesmaid's games this way.

The shuttle took them from the main airport building to the rental car parking lot.

They matched the serial number on their key to a black Ford Focus sitting in the third row. After stowing both her suitcase and laptop bag in the trunk of the sedan, Mac got behind the wheel, Veronica in the passenger (navigator) seat.

As they drove around the airport grounds toward the highway, Veronica kept up a steady stream of chatter about cases she'd worked that summer for her dad. By the time they reached the route that would take them to the lake, she'd segued into how she couldn't believe Parker was settling down so young. Mac could tell though she was tip toeing around something, what though she didn't know. They'd been friends long enough for her to know interrogations didn't work, when Vee was ready to talk she would.

They had been driving for about an hour when Veronica's stomach launched a full-on protest. Mac laughed at her friend's growling stomach and bottomless appetite. She teased her about it as they took the next exit and drove around until they found a diner in a small town. A sign in the window announced they supported the local farm-to- table movement, so she figured odds were decent that she'd find something vegan friendly there.

Her dad had instilled in her the desire to support small, local businesses. She thought it probably stemmed from his brief tenure as owner of _Fun Time Motors_, the company he was now just a mid-level salesman for. She hadn't even known he'd originally owned then lost it when she was a toddler. Veronica had dug that information up when she'd found out their junior year of high school that Mac had been switched at birth with their nemesis, Madison Sinclair. Turned out the funds to start the company had come from the million dollar settlement from Neptune Memorial Hospital.

Mac pulled the rental car over, parallel parking in a spot just a little south of the restaurant.

They were seated in a booth by the window. Mac was pleased to see an entire vegan column of the eclectic menu. She quickly settled on the mushroom tofu lettuce wraps while Veronica chose a spinach salad with grilled shrimp.

"I never get to eat shellfish these days, with Logan's allergy," Veronica said, feeling as though she had to justify.

"Okay, well, this is certainly a good weekend to cut lose," Mac said, looking strangely at her friend, but Veronica was busy looking at the street, watching the cars pass by on the tiny town's main street. She looked more sad—or reflective at least—than pissed this time. Remembering her rebuff from earlier, this time Mac refrained from asking what was wrong.

"Yup, eating shrimp, that's certainly a text book example of girl's gone wild," Veronica retorted dryly, pulling her eyes away from the passing traffic and back on Mac.

"It's up there with Dick's suggestion of Jell-O wrestling."

"Jell-O isn't vegan."

"I know. Once I educated him, he amended it to Olive Oil."

When the food arrived, both girls eagerly tucked into their meal.

Conversation drifted away from vegan substitutes for Jell-O wrestling to a recap of their trip so far. Between bites they chatted about what they didn't want to do over the weekend (just about every "super-fun" game Paige had listed in her email), and then segued into Parker's plans so far for her big day. Mac noticed that Veronica had once again found a way to file away her sadness.

Once the bill came they fought over it. Veronica ended up winning the battle though since Mac was financing the rental car. Mac also surrendered her place behind the driver's seat as well for the 2nd half of the drive.

The continuation of their conversation from the restaurant didn't go on much longer once back in the car though. They found a station that played cheesy hits from the 80s, where most of the songs dated back to before they were even born or conceived even, still they knew most of the songs well enough to sing along to.

Before long Mac started feeling tired. She looked out her window, resting her forehead against the cool glass. They had left the flat topography behind; the terrain was getting steadily more hilly and windy as they got closer and closer to their destination. The last thing she remembered before she fell asleep was a sign pronouncing that Lake Tahoe was 35 miles, and a hilly pasture full of cows grazing. She figured later she must have had a few dreams but the only one that stood out to her was the one with a cow in red lipstick lip syncing to "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." It was enough to wake her up out of the sound sleep.

As she started to wake up she realized Veronica still had that 80s channel on the radio and was singing along to Cyndi Lauper. Well, that explained part of the disturbing dream at least.

"Where are we, Vee?"

"About 35 miles from Lake Tahoe."

"Really? How long was I asleep, five minutes?"

"About an hour, give or take, I didn't realize you'd fallen asleep until I heard you snoring," Veronica said.

"I don't snore," Mac countered automatically. "An hour, are you sure? That doesn't add up."

"You do snore, and what do you mean it doesn't add up?"

"I swear right before I fell asleep and dreamed about singing cows, I saw a sign that said Lake Tahoe was 35 miles."

"Singing cows?" Veronica inquired. She risked a quick glance over at her friend.

"Yes, singing cows. That's the only thing you found significant in that sentence?"

"Actually, yes, I already figured out we're a little bit turned around."

"I think you mean lost," Mac corrected. She was fully awake now; she sat straighter up in her seat so she could look out into the vista before her, as though she'd suddenly find the magic route to take them to the lake house.

"No, I don't. We're just a little turned around," Veronica repeated. "The directions I pulled off the internet from Paige said something about a turn off for Lake Vista Road around 15 miles from Lake Tahoe. I thought I overshot so I backtracked a little."

"Your phone doesn't have GPS?" Mac asked incredulously.

"It does," she replied. "But my phone isn't here right now."

"It's not here? What did it do, escape? What, your phone decided it didn't want to be around a bunch of women at a Bachelorette party weekend?"

"It's, um, in my suitcase now."

"Which is who the hell knows where," Mac supplied helpfully. She suddenly remember Veronica packing it away after ignoring a couple incoming calls.

"Maybe I could use the GPS to find it. Oh right," Veronica snarked, removing one hand from the wheel to sarcastically snap her fingers, "the cell is packed away in my suitcase in the underbelly of some plane buried, never to be found again." She returned the hand to the wheel.

"Someone needs to invent a GPS device to locate lost GPS devices," Mac quipped.

"You're the one in the technology field."

"Right, maybe I'll bring it up in the next Kane Software shareholders meeting," Mac deadpanned. Then in all seriousness she said "maybe you shouldn't have checked your bag, and you definitely shouldn't have packed your phone."

Veronica bristled at that last comment. "Now you tell me. You're just like Logan; you both have all the answers to every _fucking_ thing." However, it came out meaner sounding than she intended, and feeling contrite she sheepishly said, "Sorry."

Mac waved away the apology. "Comparing me to Logan, huh? What's up?"

"Let's just get to the house, hover over the bride-to-be, and then we maybe once I consume a bottle or three of cheap champagne I'll tell you."

"Okay, you know I'm here, whenever you're ready to talk," Mac reiterated. "If you would pull over somewhere I can get my own phone out of the laptop bag. Then maybe we can actually get to the house while there's still some champagne left."

"No need, I've got this. Lake Vista Road has to be here somewhere. It's on your side of the road. Are you looking?"

"I am looking, but they're all numbered routes, far as I can tell Vee. I haven't seen any road with Lake in the name." The last road they'd passed was State Route 55, Mac wondered if perhaps the roads had an official name (numbered route) and also maybe an unofficial name the locals called it. Small towns—Neptune was the perfect case-in-point—sometimes had fucked up roadway naming conventions. Why the hell didn't they just stick with one easy to remember name?

"Just keep looking, and don't fall asleep on the job this time." It was more order, than request. Veronica looked around making sure there were no members of the highway patrol lurking around. She did an illegal U-turn, ignoring the raised eyebrow Mac bestowed upon her.

"Nice move there. Anyway, I wasn't aware that my navigator services were needed. It was a little lunch-induced narcolepsy, that's why I make it a habit to never attend meetings right after a big meal."

"Bet your boss appreciates that," Veronica cracked.

"That's just more value-added service I bring to my job, what can I say?" Mac continued the banter as she watched the scenery blur by. The roads bisecting the main thoroughfare they were on were few and far between. She didn't know why Vee turned around, Lake Vista Road was not suddenly going to appear in front of them. She still suspected there was a key piece of info they were missing. She knew of a technological answer to their dilemma but so far Vee was hell bent on the challenge of finding the road on her own, with just her trusty paper directions for guidance.

**_***/***_**

Parker gratefully accepted the plastic disposable flute of champagne being pressed in her hand. Sparkling wine was the technical term however, seeing as they definitely didn't import it from the Champagne region of France. "Thank you," she said. The name champagne sounded nicer than sparkling wine though.

Her benefactor was her older sister, Paige. They were 7 years apart in age, so for her teen years it was as though she were an only child. The last couple of years had brought them much closer though, and Paige had only been married two years so she was more than happy to advise her baby sister on wedding planning. Being the elder of the two, she felt it was her duty to pass along her vast wisdom on to Parker.

Taking a big sip of the sweet champagne, Parker looked around at the vast living area of the lake house. The sun pooling in through the wall of windows caught the sheen of the Brazilian Cherry wood floors. The lake and surrounding mountains were their backyard, and made a beautiful backdrop. The time on the clock positioned on the rough hewn mantle over the stone fireplace said it was just before 4. Idly, Parker wondered where Mac and Veronica were. She'd expected them about an hour ago.

Before she could let her imagination conjure up nightmarish scenarios though, Parker's cousin, Mia, sidled up to her. They caught each other up with what was going on in their busy lives. Mia was married with two kids who were only fifteen months apart. She joked that counting her husband she was really raising three kids. They continued their conversation on the couch, Parker strategically locating herself where she had a view of the door, so she could watch the arrival of the rest of the ladies. Paige joined them on the couch with an arsenal of three full bottles of the champagne, placing them on the coffee table in front of her, in easy reach. She made sure the bride-to-be's glass was never empty, it was part of her job description for the weekend after all.

Parker would look up each time the door opened and a new member of the party arrived. Still no sign of Mac and Veronica, but being that she was being steadily supplied with the champagne she wasn't cycling through any more horror scenarios, after all they'd probably just had their flight delayed or something. That happened all the time.

Parker looked out the window at the view of the lake below, and the mountains beyond. It was such a gorgeous vista. Her attention got pulled back to her friends and family surrounding her on the couch and chairs framing the living room, Mia was animatedly describing the time her kids decided the family dog—a bull mastiff—made a better canvas for their art work than paper did. He just sat there patiently as the kids painted his fawn colored fur purple, green, pink, and day-glo orange. They even earned some doggie kisses of appreciation for their masterpiece. Everyone laughed; Mia was the only one who had kids, so her strange life was endlessly entertaining.

Before long Paige was replenishing the stockpile of champagne bottles on the coffee table from the seemingly endless cases she'd procured for the entire weekend. She and Mac (the maid of honor) had split the outrageously expensive cost for 7 cases of the bubbly, plus the 2 cases of red wine, one case of white, the big bottles of vodka, gin, and tequila. It was important to be prepared. It was shaping up to be an expensive weekend already, even though it had barely began, and everyone had split the cost of the house and food she packed away in the massive, cooks-paradise gourmet kitchen. Oh well, this was for her baby sister, it was worth it. She reached over and grabbed the bottle of champagne Mia had just opened—the fifth bottle in like 2 hours, not that she was calculating—and refilled Parker's glass with it before filling hers up as well.

"So where's this famous Mac I've heard so much about but never actually met in the flesh?" Paige inquired.

"On her way, I imagine," Parker asked before taking a big sip of her champagne.

"They'd better hurry up, or there might not be any alcohol left," Paige teased. She got up to go into the adjacent kitchen to start heating up some of the appetizers she'd bought for their cocktail "hour."

**_***/***_**

"Just admit it, we're lost," Mac said turning to give Veronica a quick glance. She felt like she was on repeat, it must have been by conservative estimate the 85th time she said that.

"Not lost, just a little turned around," Veronica quickly replied. Evidently she was on repeat too.

Mac turned back towards the window to once again watch for the street sign proclaiming the mythical Lake Vista Drive. Maybe the Easter Bunny was lounging there too, sipping a Pina Colada, she though snarkily, thinking of Dick's crack from that morning about Veggie Bacon being fictional just like the Easter Bunny.

"They'll definitely be out of champagne by the time we get there, if they even find our cold, frozen bodies on the side of the road, so close yet so far away," Mac grumped. "The headline will say in big bold letters, they could have been saved by technology if only the stubborn bullheaded driver would have pulled over to let the navigator fish out her iPhone outfitted with the best GPS tracking money can buy. We'll have our twenty minutes of fame—because face it, this story would be too juicy for just fifteen—but we'll be too dead to capitalize."

"My Mac never cared about fame," Veronica retorted.

"It's mainly just notoriety I don't want to partake in," she clarified. "So, we've been driving up and down this same stretch of road for the past hour. Pull the fuck over now, so I can get my fucking phone. We are fucking lost."

Veronica gave her best gal pal the side eye. She knew if she was dropping the f-bomb rather than her usual "frak" then she was seriously pissed. Taking a quick glance out the rear-view mirror she saw that no one else was near them, so she signaled and pulled off the two lane road. "Okay, I might have put a little too much faith in internet directions. We might be a little more than just turned around," she finally acquiesced.

"Lost!"

"Okay, we're lost," Veronica quietly admitted.

"What was that?"

"You heard me," she gifted Mac with a glare.

Mac just laughed and got out of the car. Reluctantly Veronica reached down to pull on the trunk release. It popped open and Mac retrieved the black messenger bag containing her laptop. She got back into the car, plopped the bag on her lap and dug around. Triumphantly she pulled out her phone, grabbed the paper with the hastily scrawled directions and plugged in the address.

Soon Siri's robotic voice was filling the car.

Mac laughed at Vee's rude finger gesture when she was ordered to turn around, and then to go back **_5 miles to Route 55_**. Thank goodness for technology! Siri knew that the real name for Lake Vista Road was Route 55. Maybe she'd get that champagne after all. She didn't even have to _Jedi Mind Trick_ Parker to find the house after all.

**_TBC…_**


	2. Chapter 2--Found

**_A/N: Finally, another update. Thanks for your patience, took longer than planned. You'll meet some OC's here, too. Filler characters to round out the guest list. One of the OC's though is a name I heard from the season 2 finale, "Not Pictured," the graduation scene. So the name does belong to Rob Thomas, her backstory is mine alone though. You'll figure out the character I'm talking about soon. This has been an exciting couple weeks for Marshmallows! I hope you all enjoyed our movie as much as I did. Again, this was started before the movie came out so it's not exactly movie cannon compliant, it follows the structure of my Road series of stories a little closer, but I may have borrowed a few things from our movie. This takes place after they graduated from Hearst College. The year is 2010. Yup, a period piece. Thank you for reading, following, favorite-ing, and of course thank you to those who reviewed! Enjoy!_**

**_Obligatory Disclaimer-Nope, STILL don't own the VM universe, that honor is solely RT and his posse. I also don't own the high-end brand names, and the classic 80s movies mentioned in here. However, I do "own" the OC's. Don't worry, I won't quiz you on their names.  
_**

**_Chapter 2—Found!_**

Parker was spread out on the large brown faux suede sectional sofa joking with her sister and cousin drinking what she suspected was probably her 5th glass of champagne, though truthfully she'd quit counting. She looked up and saw Mac and Veronica coming through the front door.

In her excitement, Parker jumped up off the couch so fast she almost spilled the contents of her glass in the process. "Mac! Veronica! You guys made it. You're the last ones to arrive, but I'm so happy you made it," she shrieked in joy, the _finally _implied.

Parker got up, making her way to Mac and Veronica. They all hugged.

"Yeah, well, I had my doubts we'd ever get here. It was an educational trip, to be sure," Mac stated.

"Educational?" Parker asked. She grabbed Mac's hand and pulled her toward the couch, Veronica followed.

"Yes, very educational. We learned many things, like when checking your bag doesn't mean it will be on the same flight you are, cell phones should never be packed, and finally whatever you do never EVER trust internet directions," Mac clarified as she took a seat on the couch.

Mac sat between Parker and Veronica. From the phone that was still clutched in her hand, she scrolled through the menu then fired off a quick text to Dick. It was just a quick "I arrived safe and sound," message. Immediately her phone pinged to let her know she had a reply. She skimmed Dick's text (sext!), shook her head but didn't take the time to answer back. She tossed the phone on the coffee table in front of her, focusing entirely on catching up with Parker and meeting the other girls.

"Hey, now, I've checked bags lots of times and never before did it get misplaced by the airlines," Veronica defended.

"Lots of times, define lots of times. You've flown, what, twice," Mac inquired.

"Three times," she corrected.

"So of those three times you've flown, they've only misplaced your bags once?"

"Yes."

"So that means 1/3 of the time they've managed to lose your bags. Do you think that's a good statistic? Should they base an ad campaign off of that?"

"Sounds like a good odds to me," Veronica returned. "More than half the time my bags actually end up getting to their final destination."

"If you think that's good odds, well, for your sake I hope they don't require any stats class for law school," Mac said, then blushed. She clapped a hand over her mouth. "Shit, Vee. Sorry!"

"Law school?" Parker inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Not sure yet, I'm mulling over lots of options," Veronica said quickly. She shook her head at Mac, making it clear she'd handle the inevitable questions. However, before anything else could be said on the subject, a tall blonde girl who looked like an older version of Parker placed a tray of mini spinach quiches on the table in front of them and gracefully sat down next to the bride. She was grateful for the interruption.

"Which one of you is Mac?" The newcomer said.

"I am. I don't even have to ask who you are. I know which genes are dominant in the Lee family," Mac said. She extended her right hand. "You must be Paige."

"In the flesh. I've heard so much about you, Mac; it's nice to have a face with the name. Thank you for taking such great care of my baby sis." Paige said reaching out to grab a quiche. She blew on it and popped the entire thing in her mouth.

Mac felt her cheeks heating up. She looked down at the floor, suddenly fascinated by her faded black Chuck Taylors, as though they carried the secrets of the universe. All these years later and she never quite reconciled what had thought of as her role in what happened to Parker in their dorm room the first week of freshman year at Hearst. Logically of course Mac knew she wasn't to blame, that lay entirely on Mercer and Mo, but she'd always felt she failed Parker. Her ruminations were interrupted though by Vee squeezing her hand in reassurance, one of the only other people in the world who rode the same guilt train she did. Mentally shaking off the dark tinge her mood had taken, she remembered her manners. "It's nice meeting you as well. This is our other friend, Veronica."

"Aw yes, the famous Veronica Mars. I've heard a lot about you, too."

"Infamous," Mac and Parker corrected simultaneously. Then turning to face each other said again at the exact same time, "jinx."

Ignoring Mac and Parker, Veronica looked at Paige and replied quickly, "whatever you heard, I didn't do it." She held up her right hand as though taking an oath. Then she put it down and reached out to grab a quiche, it smelled too good to resist.

Parker and her sister just laughed at Veronica's denial.

"I was just going to say help yourself," Paige started.

"You never have to offer with Veronica around, if there's food she'll find it," Mac interjected, smiling at the slap Veronica bestowed on her for her treasonous remark.

"Paige also has a few other appetizers in the oven, they should be ready soon. I think there's even some wheatgrass vegan concoction. Anyway, grab a glass and start drinking. You have a lot of catching up to do," Parker said.

"Thanks," Mac said. She grabbed two plastic flutes off the table and picked up an open bottle of champagne, pouring a liberal amount in each glass. She handed one to Vee, before taking a big sip from her cup.

"Oh, you're the token vegan, I was emailed several pages of instruction on your care and feeding," Paige teased.

"That's me, a freakball vegan, to borrow my mom's term of endearment. Thank you. You didn't have to do that, I could have stocked up at that grocery store we passed 50 times on the drive over." Mac smirked at the grumpy look Veronica gifted her with. "Yes, fifty times," she repeated.

"You exaggerate," Veronica addressed Mac. Then turning to Parker she explained, "I did turn around a couple of times looking for Lake Vista Road."

"There's no Lake Vista Road," Parker said, looking inquisitively at her sister. "Is there?"

"Nope."

"I know, and that was our problem," Mac clarified. "It's called Route 55 in the real world."

After rehashing the story of their quest to find the lake house—for what felt like the 99th time to Veronica—all 12 ladies sat around the large living room drinking champagne and eating canapés,there was a generous selection of both vegan and carnivorous appetizers. Parker gave a quick spiel about everyone in the room to hasten the introductions. Mac did a double take at the girl Parker announced as Hadley Klein.

"Hadley? Wow, I didn't know you and Parker knew each other."

"Hi Mac. We had a few education classes together," Hadley explained. "I transferred in my sophomore year. I got a full ride to Hearst."

Veronica flashed a questioning look in her direction, Mac smiled back in understanding. "Veronica, do you remember Hadley? She went to Neptune High with us. She was one our ranks."

"Ranks?"

"From the 02 side of the tracks," Hadley explained. "I knew you of course, the famous Veronica Mars. I didn't know you weren't an '09'er until the 10th grade."

"None of us did," Mac interjected before Veronica could say anything.

"Neptune is very classist," Parker explained to the rest of her family and friends. "The 09 zip is where the Richie rich live, while 02 are the…"

"Poor folk," Veronica finished.

"Our people," Mac explained, "the ones who are from the right side of the wrong side of the tracks. In fact, they should print that on the brochures in the tourism bureau."

"My high school was much more evenly spread," Cee-Cee said, tucking an errant strand of dark brown hair behind her ear. "Park and I went to school together in Lakewood, outside Denver, pretty solidly middle class."

"There's not a lot of class warfare where I teach in inner-city Denver," Amy added. She was an English teacher.

As the throw away remark on the war between the socioeconomic classes in Neptune waged a heated conversation between all the guests Mac watched out the wall of windows as the sun started descending behind the mountain peak and the sky darkened. The last crimson rays thrown by the setting sun reflected off the lake. It was a truly magnificent place to be spending the weekend.

She grabbed the last sautéed mushroom cap and then followed that up with a sip of champagne. A girl (woman) she thought was named Azure started talking about her pottery shop in a more artsy corner of Denver. She seemed to be trying to steer the conversation away from money and the age old haves vs have nots. There seemed to be a nice mix of women from a variety of backgrounds, Mac was happy to note. No one seemed to be of the drama queen persuasion, which was a relief. Mac was fairly certain she couldn't take that on top of "super fun" bridesmaid's games.

Just as the remnants of the appetizers were being picked over, Paige jumped up to put the lasagnas in the oversized oven to reheat. Mac followed, taking her glass of champagne with her. They chatted as they set to work removing all 3 varieties of lasagna out of the fridge, taking off the aluminum foil and preheating the oven to 350 degrees.

The gourmet kitchen had brown granite counter tops and stainless steel high end _Wolf_ and _Bosch_ appliances. There was an L shaped counter bar with ten barstools and a long table in the adjoining dining area with seating for an additional 12 people. It was close enough to the living room that Mac could hear snatches of conversation from the rest of the guests.

Some cousin of Piz's, Deb, was asking about law school. Veronica tried to back pedal on the whole subject. Mac loved her, of course, she was her best friend, but sometimes she thought her friend got the strangest ideas about things. She didn't truly understand why Veronica's possible attendance at law school would be a state secret, especially since they barely knew anyone at the lake house. The only theory that could possibly somewhat explain things is if Veronica still hadn't told Logan. Mac had been the sole beneficiary of that covert piece of information for several months, Veronica was caught between not wanting the mess things up with Logan—a relationship that had drama in its very marrow—and wanting to have the best launch pad for her future career as was possible. Columbia had one of the better law programs in the nation and better yet, they were offering a full ride.

Mac's reverie was interrupted by Paige frantically calling her name. She looked up and saw that was she was trying to keep from dropping a heavy cut glass serving bowl. She stretched up on her tip toes, aware of the big size difference between herself and the Lee sisters, and grabbed a hold of the bowl. Together they lowered it safely to the counter.

"I thought this bowl would class up the bagged salad," she explained.

"Good idea," Mac complimented, shaking out her right arm. That sucker was a lot heavier than it looked.

"I shudder to think how much it would have cost us to replace it if it had broken. Thank you for the assist."

"No problem, Paige. However, Veronica and I know how to make evidence disappear, and we'd also have gifted you with_ plausible deniability_."

"Well, you two are certainly handy to have around, I guess. Glad Park has such good connections."

The buzzer went off indicating the oven was preheated enough. They placed the three casseroles into the oven, reset the timer for thirty minutes and set to work emptying the bags of salad into the large bowl.

They went back out to the expansive living area as the lasagnas cooked. They all started sharing their first memories of Parker, and continued to drink champagne. Mac was surprised when the timer buzzed. The thirty minutes passed quickly. Would it pass as quickly when it came to the super fun party games? Mac couldn't help wondering.

Everyone took a seat at the dining table and Veronica and Cee-Cee set to work serving the lasagnas. Mac found herself between Parker and Azure. She blew on her spinach and mushroom vegan lasagna before taking a timid bite.

Veronica sat across from Mac at the long table, her serving partner next to her. Veronica had served herself last so she could take 2 big pieces of the traditional meat lasagna without feeling guilty. She didn't have much real estate left on her plate, so she took a tiny serving of the salad. She raised an eyebrow at Mac's smirk upon seeing generous lasagna serving. The entire group had traded the champagne for wine at that point. Parker and Hadley were the only ones drinking white wine, everyone else switched to red.

As the group was finishing up their meal, Paige started outlining the plans for the super fun dress game. She'd bought 3 bridesmaids dresses at a thrift store and breaking down in three teams of four, everyone had to redesign a dress. They'd vote on the winner at the end.

After dinner was done everyone cleared off their plate and loaded it in the shiny stainless steel dishwasher, so no one was stuck with clean up detail. Their activities director, Mac's private new nickname for Paige, decided they'd all take a 10 minute break before meeting downstairs in the game room to mutilate ugly old bridesmaid dresses.

After stopping by the coffee table in the living room to grab her cell, Mac retrieved her suitcase and laptop bag from its resting place by the door where she'd left it when they first got there almost three hours prior. Mac and Veronica set off downstairs to settle in their room before the "super fun" game started. Their bedroom was located off the game room, and it had one set of bunk beds and a private bathroom. Mac shut the door and tossed her bags on top of the long dresser. In the meantime, Veronica had flopped down on the low bunk, already staking her claim.

"So are you planting your flag on the bottom bunk then? Whatever happened to voting?" Mac said, watching her friend's reflection in the mirror attached to the dresser. She then started scrolling through her texts; Dick had sent five while they were eating.

"Voting?" Veronica asked as though she'd never head that term before. "I'm sorry; you think this is a democracy? How wrong you are, pal. Besides, voting doesn't work real well with just two constituents."

"That's okay, the top bunk is fine," Mac acquiesced. "I'd probably have _voted_ for the top one anyway. So are your dress decorating skills properly sharpened these days?"

"About that...I say we be rebels with a very good cause and skip that particular activity."

"We might cause a mutiny," Mac argued.

"I'm willing to risk it. Have you ever seen me back away from a fight?"

Mac just laughed. The chime from her phone indicating she had an incoming text took her focus off of Veronica. She looked down, blushed a little, then gave a low chuckle. Then biting her lip, her fingers started flying as she composed a reply.

"Let me guess, Dick wants to know how to make microwave popcorn?"

"Yup, I told him to set the oven to 350." Mac joked. "No. It's a little more r-rated than that. He wants to know what I'm wearing. I texted back a lace bra and feathers in my hair."

Veronica clapped her hands over her ears. "La, la, la. I don't need to hear your stexts to Dick. That's ten seconds of my life I'll never ever get back."

"Do I really need to list the traumas I've witnessed being in close quarters with you and Logan?" Mac inquired. She noticed, but didn't comment on the pained expression that flashed then shuttered across Vee's face at the mention of Logan.

"I don't begrudge you an active fantasy life, I just would prefer ignorance. I'm rather good at that." Veronica said it in a breezy casual way hoping to hide away her deeper meaning.

Mac put the phone back on the dresser and crossed the room. She flopped down at the bottom of Veronica's bed. She stretched over to grab Veronica's hand but before contact was made, Parker knocked once then barged in the room.

Mac involuntarily scowled at the interruption, she was about to try and push Veronica to talk with her about what was bothering her and Parker ruined the moment.

Noticing the expression on Mac's face Parker started to back out of the room. "I was just coming to tell you all to stop hiding, if I'm forced to play "super fun" games; then everyone has to play these "super fun" games, dammit. But obviously I'm interrupting something. You guys can join us when you're ready."

"We'll be ready to play as soon as the game is finished," Mac muttered.

"I heard that," Parker said.

"Don't be silly, Park, you're not interrupting anything. We'll be right out. I wouldn't miss the game for anything, in fact now I can cross "super fun dress game" off my bucket list," Veronica snarked. She didn't miss the confused look Mac gifted her with.

With one last concerned look at Veronica, Parker left the room, shutting the door softly behind her.

"Who are you and what have you done with Veronica? You were just talking about starting a mutiny and skipping said super fun games," Mac replied.

"That was just a temporary lapse," Veronica back peddled. "You know me; I'm nothing if not a joiner."

"Maybe if this were bizzaro world."

"Look, I came here, at your behest, to celebrate the end of Parker's single days. I know I'm not exactly Mary fucking sunshine right now, but we're out of Neptune now, so let's just leave it in the rearview mirror and participate in super fun games."

Mac held her hands up in mock-surrender but didn't try to drill any more answers out of Veronica. She got up from Vee's bed then went over to her friend and helped haul her up, too.

"Let's go _mingle_," Mac said, saying the last word as though it were a dirty word. She detoured over to the dresser to grab her phone.

Veronica flashed her an irritated look. "Can't you go ten minutes without sexting Neptune's biggest man whore?"

"Reformed man whore, remember? He hasn't been one of those in three years," Mac corrected, "and no, probably not."

They walked out into the game room, which was a big centralized L-shaped room downstairs with 3 bedrooms (including theirs) sprouting off of it.

The floors were a gleaming cherry wood, and there was a big black leather sectional sofa dominating the lounging half of the room. A 70" TV was attached to the wall facing the couch. There was a fully-stocked wet bar, too. Bottles of champagne and red wine were lined up on the counter, along with a selection of disposable cups. Mac tried not to think about all the damage her weekend of frivolity was wreaking on the environment as she poured herself another glass of red wine in a red solo cup. She grabbed a black sharpie lying next to the champagne bottles and scrawled her name so she'd at least be able to reuse the same glass the rest of the weekend.

The other half of the expansive room was dominated by a large pool table and a couple **_vintage_** arcade games including _Pac-Man_ and _Donkey Kong_. Relics from the 80's.

All the girls were spread out on the sofa and on the floor. Large throw pillows were strategically placed around the room, to provide a buffer from the hard floors.

Paige saw them and signaled that they should grab a pillow and sit. Mac and Veronica did as instructed.

She once again started her little spiel on the rules of the "super fun" dress game. At Paige's request Mia then ran out to grab the dresses. She came back with 3 pink dresses over one arm and a big cardboard box full of ribbons, glitter paint, bows, hot glue guns, and other craft supplies.

"Pink taffeta? No way," someone muttered. Mac thought maybe it was Amy or perhaps Mia. She was just glad no one would be testing her on everyone's name. She was also thrilled that Parker had already ordered the bridesmaid's dresses and it was neither pink nor made of taffeta.

Paige divided them all in three groups of four. Mac was placed with Cee Cee, Mia and Azure. Cee-Cee volunteered to wear the dress.

Veronica was grouped with Paige, Amy, and Hadley.

Each group had just 5 minutes to decide how they wanted to redecorate their dress and to gather and prepare the necessary supplies. At the one minute mark it was a real feeding frenzy at the craft box as everyone frantically grabbed the lace and ribbons and fabric markers needed for their dress masterpiece. Sharks circling, Mac thought as she grabbed one end of a long strip of white lace. She met resistance though, and looking up saw that Veronica was pulling on the opposite end of the same strip of lace. Their eyes met and they laughed.

"If our lips meet though, like Lady and the Tramp eating the same strand of spaghetti, I'm outta here," Veronica quipped.

"Oh, it's a bachelorette party weekend, that's a required activity," Mac joked.

"Says who?"

"Dick, of course."

"Of course, I didn't even need to ask that." Veronica said dryly, rolling her eyes.

Hadley was diving in the box too, and her hand stilled at the mention of Dick. "Casablancas?" she asked.

"Yes, Mac and Dick have been dating since their sophomore year at Hearst," Veronica explained.

"How did I not know that? I'm not sure I would have predicted that coupling. But congrats," Hadley said.

Hadley's _congrats_ sounded tentative to Mac, like maybe it wasn't a word she really thought was appropriate. Being that she only knew the high school version of Dick it would make sense that Hadley was confused by the idea of Mac and Dick, tormentee dating her tormentor. The halls of Neptune High didn't have a lot of 02 and 09'er mixing, with Veronica being the only real notable exception to that _rule_.

"Vegas odd makers wouldn't have predicted that coupling either," Veronica said. "But they actually make sense when you see them in person," she elaborated, loyally. "He's still an overgrown child, but it's less obvious than before."

Shooting a death glare at her friend, though honestly she couldn't truly disagree with the statement, Mac said defensively "Dick's had a lot of things to deal with the past few years, it made him more human, or rather I suspect it made it easier for him to show the softer side that's always been there."

"I say humanoid rather than human, but otherwise, yeah, maybe there's a little bit of truth to Mac's rather biased assessment of Dick," Veronica relented. "His healthy fear of me keeps him treating her right."

"They make a wonderful couple, almost on the same level as Piz and I," Parker added, putting her arm around Mac in solidarity. "Hey, I forgot to ask earlier, but what are Dick and Logan doing this weekend without their lovely girlfriends keeping them in line?"

"Beer, food, and video games, I think. Honestly I'm not sure of the order though," Mac answered. She looked to Veronica for confirmation and noticed her friend had slinked off to the bar. Was it at the mention of Logan or just for fortification to get her through the commencement of the super fun dress game? Mac didn't know, perhaps it was an equation of both factors.

Veronica filled a solo cup to the brim with red wine, she didn't even check to see what type it was. It was alcohol, that's all she cared about, fuck; Boones Farm would have been acceptable in her mind. She took a big sip, knocking down about a fourth of it in one gulp. She looked up mid-chug to see Mac tracking her movements. She lifted the cup up in the air as a mocking salute before taking yet another sip.

"Alright ladies, time to decorate. You have fifteen minutes to recreate your masterpiece," Paige yelled.

Veronica slinked back to her group, cup in hand. She set it down and ignored the looks Mac kept flashing her direction. She grabbed the strip of lace she'd successfully wrested from Mac and handed it to Hadley.

Amy, the English teacher from Denver, was their dress model. It only went down a little past her knees.

Hadley took a pair of scissors from the 4th girl's outstretched hands and cut the lace into two pieces. Veronica grabbed a glue stick from their supply pile and ran glue over the back of both strips of lace. They ended up placing the lace along the top of the dress and along the bottom too. Next up was the glitter and then a string of black sequins.

Veronica tried to sneak a peek at Mac's group but Mac blocked the view on purpose.

The dress wearer in Mac's group—Cee-Cee—was much shorter than Amy, so the dress was almost floor length.

Azure was very crafty so Mac and the rest of the crew gladly let her do most of the work. They chatted as they sniped, and glued pieces of ribbon and bead work to the ugly pink dress.

"My mom is originally from the UK," Azure said, "though I was born and raised in Denver. She was telling me the other day they call bachelorette weekends _hen do's _in her country."

"A pen do?" Cee-Cee asked.

"Hen do," Azure corrected. "Like the animal. Basically a hen party, a bunch of women together cackling like hens, I suppose."

"So would the bachelor party equivalent be a cock-do?" Mac wondered. "That might be pretty fitting." She handed Azure another sting of beads, these were tiny gold ones made of glass. Mac liked how they refracted the light. They glued it so it made a zig-zag pattern across the front of the dress.

"Good question. I didn't ask about the term for a guy party, but we'll say the term cock-do works for our purposes."

"Parker is always teasing me about how I tend to mishear things," Cee-Cee explained.

Changing the subject from hens, cocks and mishearing words, they started talking about the dresses they chose for Parker's upcoming wedding. Using the unifying color of various shades of purple, each bridesmaid chose their own style of dress. Mac had selected one in deep purple; it was floor length and had a plunging neckline, with a rauched bodice. After describing their dresses for Parker's wedding, they started swapping tales of nightmarish dresses from prior bridesmaids' experiences. It made the time go quickly, and Mac had to admit some of her fears about Paige's super fun games had been unfounded.

The timer that Parker's very organized, type-A personality sister had set rang and she shouted out for everyone to stop what they were doing.

All three models—Cee-Cee, Amy and Parker—did a little cat walk, showing off their newly redecorated tacky pink taffeta dress. Parker was the least inhibited of the three of them and she shook her booty and added an additional twirl at the end. Her group was the only one who cut the dress so it had morphed into a micro-mini style. They also glittered it up more than the other two groups combined.

It was a close race, but in the end Parker's group won. Veronica complained that the game was rigged.

Everyone made their way to the bar to fill up their cups with wine or champagne, and then collapsed on the couch or the floor pillows. The topic of conversation Mac's group had started on tacky dress horror stories continued, and then they all tried to imagine a scenario where someone would have thought that the pink taffeta dresses were classy. Color blindness was a popular theory.

Mac heard her phone ping from the bar where she'd left it for the duration of the super fun dress game. She dragged herself up from the pillow she'd flopped down on, and retrieved it.

The text read:

Dick: **_whose winning the extra VIRGIN olive oil wrestling? I've got my money on you, Scrappy-Do!_**

Mac laughed out loud and poured herself a refill of wine before replying.

**_What's the spread there, Shaggy?_**

In response to the questioning looks Mac explained that Dick had made a couple of suggestions of appropriate Hen-Do weekend activities, olive oil wrestling being his favorite.

"That sounds like the Dick Casablancas I know," Hadley said, then clapped a hand over her mouth like she hadn't meant to say it out loud.

"Leopard, spots, overnight," Veronica shorthanded, "Dick is still very much a work-in-progress. Mac is doing a fine job with his training though."

"Tell Dick we'll take his suggestion under advisement. If there's a freeze warning in hell we definitely will start rubbing oil on each other," Parker joked. She thought Mac looked a little hurt from Hadley's continual comments on the Dick she knew from high school.

They all continued talking about their lives back home, and sharing their most embarrassing Parker stories. The alcohol poured freely.

At one point Mia had queued up a John Hughes classic 80's movie, **_Some Kind of Wonderful_**, but it was mainly just background noise. Though all talk stopped at the end when the main character, the geeky Keith, told his best friend, the tomboy Watts, played by Mary Stuart Masterson, that she "looked good wearing [his] future."

They decided to make a drinking game of the next 80s movie they saw. Every time someone was dressed in what passed for fashion in those days they had to drink.

**_Pretty in Pink_** won the vote. In addition to 80's fashion faux-pas, the other drinking parameters for the game were the word "pink," and Duckie getting slapped.

It was after 11, and they were about thirty minutes into the movie. Mac decided she probably wouldn't make it past the half-way point at the rate everyone was drinking. They were on their 5th bottle of champagne since the movie began.

Her attention was diverted off of Molly Ringwald and her best friend Duckie by the pinging of yet another text. Reluctantly, she picked the phone up from its resting spot on the floor by her hand. She thought maybe Dick had thought of yet another clichéd slumber party activity for them to enact, but she opened up the message envelope anyway.

Dick: **_Logan finally arrived. He's a mess. What the FUCK did your bestie do to him this time?_**

Mac quickly replied back.

**_Why do you always assume its Veronica's fault?_**

Dick: **_History, my dear, history. _**

**_Veronica is not exactly forthcoming on the whole topic. Get Logan drunk, he'll spill._**

Dick: **_True. He's the chick in the relationship. Well get back to your pillow fight. Love you!_**

**_Ditto on the love thing. Let me know what you find out. Over and out…_**

Veronica looked over at Mac texting furiously. She cocked her head.

"I guess your man is crying on Dick's shoulder, and brooding," Mac replied to the unasked question.

"Ah yes, Logan's default setting, broody," Veronica tried to whisper but her voice arched up. "I'm sure Dick is only too happy to join Logan's blame it all on Ronnie-game, but do me a favor."

"Sure," Mac replied.

"Text one word to Dick, and hopefully he'll relay it to Logan."

"What?"

"Navy."

Mac raised a brow, but did as she was told. Veronica promised to explain in detail later, but she wasn't going to waste the drinking game induced buzz on Logan. She tried to concentrate on the movie, but she kept waiting for the answering ping of her phone. Dick must be getting more of the story from Logan than she was from Veronica.

**_TBC…_**

**_****Seemed like a natural stopping place to me. Don't worry, you'll get the gaps filled in the next update. I think Logan will do a better job explaining things than Veronica ever could anyway. Isn't he the woman of that relationship?! While you're down here, maybe you could fill that lonely box with a review?! Much appreciated. Thanks for reading!_**


End file.
